Finally, Saul commanded, “Bring me some animals, so we can offer sacrifices to please the Lord and ask for his help.” Saul killed one of the animals, and just as he was placing it on the altar, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to welcome him. “What have you done?” Samuel asked. Saul answered, “My soldiers were leaving in all directions, and you didn’t come when you were supposed to. The Philistines were gathering at Michmash, and I was worried that they would attack me here at Gilgal. I hadn’t offered a sacrifice to ask for the Lord’s help, so I forced myself to offer a sacrifice on the altar fire.” “That was stupid!” Samuel said. “You didn’t obey the Lord your God. If you had obeyed him, someone from your family would always have been king of Israel. But no, you disobeyed, and so the Lord won’t choose anyone else from your family to be king. In fact, he has already chosen the one he wants to be the next leader of his people.” (1 Samuel 13:9-14 CEV)

A couple of chapters back, the People ask Samuel to appoint a King, and the Lord tells them that they’ll be sorry. So He appoints Saul, whom He punishes for making a sacrifice just before he’s about to be overrun by Philistines.

None of this makes sense, except as a cruel trick that the Lord is playing on Saul and the Israelites.

In the next chapter, Jonathon, Saul’s son, slaughters a chunk of the Philistine army and scatters the rest. Saul chases them down, and lays a curse on anyone in his army who pauses to eat. Of course, Jonathan doesn’t hear this and eats. This makes Saul quite mad, and for a moment, it seems like this will be another Jephthah episode. Fortunately, the rest of the army stops Saul from executing his son.

Reading all this, it seems that Saul is a really bad King. He makes bad rules, makes bad tactical decisions, and even Samuel thinks he’s an idiot. The Lord warned the people that they wouldn’t like the King he appointed. He was right.

Next: 1 Samuel 15-17.